Computer for graphic arts, need a quick look over

WhatTheSchmidt

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
324
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
6) Will you be overclocking?
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

1) A lot of photoshop, illustrator, running a few programs at a time, lot of chrome windows etc.
2) Budget is $1k, can go over a bit but staying under would be nice too, it's for work the budget is a bit flexible
3) US - Michigan
4) Case + all internals and an operating system.
5) Not reusing anything - PC it's replacing is 5 year old Asus for graphic arts.
6) No
7) 2 monitors, 1080P both
8) Buying end of this week most likely
9) Nothing too specific, only one video card will be used for both monitors, USB 3.0 for sure
10) no, will be buying windows pro 64 bit. Unsure if I should do 8.1 though since all the computers here are windows 7...


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Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic compact ATX Mid Tower Case

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Will likely go with the less exepnsive card, 1GB of memory will be fine with 2 1080P monitors right? Current monitors have DVI and AGP only.

GIGABYTE GV-N750OC-1GI G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

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EVGA 02G-P4-3753-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

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Rosewill CAPSTONE-450 450W Continuous @ 50°C, Intel Haswell Ready, 80 PLUS GOLD, ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92, SLI/CrossFire ...

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G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM

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ASRock Z97 Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

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Intel Core i5-3570 Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 ...

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Windows I'm leaning towards 7 pro 64 bit...

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit - OEM

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Subtotal: $1,204.90

 
1) A lot of photoshop, illustrator, running a few programs at a time, lot of chrome windows etc.

Will likely go with the less exepnsive card, 1GB of memory will be fine with 2 1080P monitors right? Current monitors have DVI and AGP only.

GIGABYTE GV-N750OC-1GI G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

IN STOCK
$119.99
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
JOIN TODAY

EVGA 02G-P4-3753-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

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$159.99
$139.99
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Ps uses OpenCL; Ai CC 2014 added GPU acceleration with NVIDIA cards only (which is horseshit, but I'm sure that's something that NVIDIA paid Adobe for).
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq1.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/gpu-performance-known-issues.html
Anything older than Ai CC 2014 does not have any acceleration.
Ps has OpenCL acceleration dating back to (I think) CS4.

I would just get the 1GB card and be done with it if that's your only GPU use. You can push 3-4 monitors with practically anything, even Intel HD if your board has enough video ports, so a 1GB discrete card is more than enough.

Also - you're picking an 1155 CPU with an 1150 board. ;)
Z77 is 1155, Z87/Z97 is 1150.
 
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How long is the drive to this Microcenter for you?:
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/madison-heights.aspx

Right off the bat though:

- As Zero2Dash said, that CPU and mobo are completely incompatible. Assuming that you're not near a Microcenter, go for the COre i4 4590.

- At $60, that case is overpriced since its upgraded brother is $3 more:
$63 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Case

- Definitely go with Windows 8.1 Pro as it does have some under-the-hood performance tweaks that allows it to be a tad faster than Windows 7. In addition, mainstream support for Windows 7 is ending next year.
 
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Thanks for that catch, I kept changing a few things and I hacked that together out of my email.

Microcenter is 45min away. It will be 15 min away from where I will be on Sunday though. What should I look into there? CPU of course but what one? anything else?

Will almost for sure go with that case...technically $13 more but I hate rebates anyway.
 
Microcenter is 45min away. It will be 15 min away from where I will be on Sunday though. What should I look into there? CPU of course but what one? anything else?

Grab everything from Micro Center:

$200 - Intel Core i5-4690K (MC loss leader)
$75 - Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI (instant $40 discount when purchased alongside i5-4690K)
$150 - Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$135 - Gigabyte GV-R726XWF2-2GD R7 260X 2GB video card
$110 - Crucial MX100 256GB SSD
$57 - WD Blue 1TB HDD
$16 - LG GH24NSB0 DVD burner
$50 - Corsair CX430 430W PSU (see if you can price-match with NewEgg)
$68 - Corsair 230T ATX mid-tower case (see if you can price-match with NewEgg)
$140 - Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit OEM DVD
====
$1001 - Total before taxes
+$60 - MI sales tax

$1061 - Total at Micro Center

The key savings from Micro Center is the processor-motherboard bundle, which beats out Amazon and NewEgg. With those savings, I was able to add in an SSD, which is nowadays vital for a good system. The SSD reduces load times and boots into Windows much faster than any HDD. (If you can, add a second SSD. Photoshop benefits from lots of RAM and a separate swap disk running from a fast drive.)

Call Micro Center beforehand and see if the store offers either price matching (to Amazon and NewEgg) or a discount if you buy everything from them. If so, you could save even more money.
 
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Grab everything from Micro Center:

$200 - Intel Core i5-4690K (MC loss leader)
$75 - Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI (instant $40 discount when purchased alongside i5-4690K)
$150 - Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$135 - Gigabyte GV-R726XWF2-2GD R7 260X 2GB video card
$110 - Crucial MX100 256GB SSD
$57 - WD Blue 1TB HDD
$16 - LG GH24NSB0 DVD burner
$50 - Corsair CX430 430W PSU (see if you can price-match with NewEgg)
$68 - Corsair 230T ATX mid-tower case (see if you can price-match with NewEgg)
$140 - Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit OEM DVD
====
$1001 - Total before taxes
+$60 - MI sales tax

$1061 - Total at Micro Center

The key savings from Micro Center is the processor-motherboard bundle, which beats out Amazon and NewEgg. With those savings, I was able to add in an SSD, which is nowadays vital for a good system. The SSD reduces load times and boots into Windows much faster than any HDD. (If you can, add a second SSD. Photoshop benefits from lots of RAM and a separate swap disk running from a fast drive.)

Call Micro Center beforehand and see if the store offers either price matching (to Amazon and NewEgg) or a discount if you buy everything from them. If so, you could save even more money.

looks great, perhaps a tiny SSD for the swap then? 32GB
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...ernal_Solid_State_Drive_(SSD)_SDSSDRC-032G-G2

Also shouldn't I stick with nvidia for the graphics card?
 
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looks great, perhaps a tiny SSD for the swap then? 32GB

I have a secondary 7200 rpm drive set to swap disk for Ps and Ai and I notice very little difference...don't know that I'd go out buying an SSD simply for swap. You'd probably be better off making a 2-4GB ramdisk and using that for swap.

And yeah, Microcenter has dropped prices on everything else to more comparable levels...they used to be higher on PSUs and ram, but now they're cheaper on ram. You get an extra $10 off that Crucial ram kit when purchased with a CPU/motherboard as well, further sweetening the deal. (I just did this recently.) I still think they have a weak selection on PSUs (unless you're going for a Corsair or Antec which is practically the only good brands they have), but yeah if you can get them to PM NewEgg on one, go for it.

I'd get a 300R over the 230 because it's $10 less and has the same $10 off rebate dropping it down to $47. Definitely eyeball any open box/RTV stuff they have; sometimes you can get great deals on those as well.

8.1 Pro OEM is $99 for x86 or x64 versions; it's in the ad, prices good through 9/28. I've noticed lately that the prices on their site are sometimes higher than the ad prices, but they ring up correct. (Had this happen recently when I bought my 4790K/Z97X-SLI combo there; site showed the board was like $20 more than it was in the ad, but it rang up right.) In that case, check the ad on everything - you may spend even less than you think (off the site prices). And again, check the open box tab for items too...see if there's any at your local store. I've seen >30% off for open box/return from vendor (if not greater) items with full manufacturer warranties
 
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I'd get a 300R over the 230 because it's $10 less and has the same $10 off rebate dropping it down to $47.

even at that lower price, it's not a good buy these days: The 300R has no dedicated 2.5-inch internal drive bays at all (the 230T has four 2.5-inch internal bays in addition to its four 3.5-inch bays). This would require the purchase of a 2.5"-to-3.5" drive bay adapter for the SSD if the OP were to go for a 300R, partially offsetting any savings. Plus, the Carbide series cases are of slightly lower quality than the Graphite series cases in general.
 
Well I picked up everything on Saturday, put most of it together Sunday and finished it an hour ago. Everything but one thing seems to work fine.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/420410/24X_Internal_DVD_ReWritable_Drive_SATA
doesn't open up at all.. Can't use it.

Even a paperclip doesn't open the drive. The cheapest component and it's not even worth returning or anything.

When I press open the light blinks fast for a bit then makes one slow click (like it's trying to open) and fails. Then blinks slowly like it's trying to read a disc or something.

I think maybe I'll just open it up myself to try to fix it.

I don't think I have managed a single trouble free build.


Different things I got and some tidbits:

I got the Samsung 840 evo ssd since there was a discount and it came in only $10 more. Also went with EVGA for the graphics card since it came to the same price. I have $50 of rebates to do as well.

I picked up the last 230T case, I like it for the most part. The arangement of ssds and hdds could have been better to be able to hook up the same power satas to them. I had to move the DVD drive all the way down and the ssd to the back side top to just have one of the sata powers fit both of those.

Is there an easy way to disable the fan LEDs? I don't really want those in the office.

Also another note, I picked up the Hyper T4 cooler and it doesn't work well with this board. I had to orient it pushing the air upward to fit on the board.
 
I picked up the last 230T case, I like it for the most part. The arangement of ssds and hdds could have been better to be able to hook up the same power satas to them. I had to move the DVD drive all the way down and the ssd to the back side top to just have one of the sata powers fit both of those.
I could have sworn that the sata cables on the CX430 was long enough to power both the HDD and SSD.
Is there an easy way to disable the fan LEDs? I don't really want those in the office..
No clue.
Also another note, I picked up the Hyper T4 cooler and it doesn't work well with this board. I had to orient it pushing the air upward to fit on the board.
Hmm.. any chance that you're willing to make the drive to return the T4 and replace the DVD burner? I ask because the T4, unless you bought it for $15 before MIR, isn't that good of a HSF for the money. The Hyper 212 Evo is a far far superior choice.
 
There are 2 sata power cables with 2 plugs on each. I need to get to the SSD, HDD, DVD burner. Having one go to the SSD and HDD would be weird orientation and I believe it wouldn't work out at all. I just had to move the DVD drive all the way down and SSD over in line in the top bracket.

I have 2 Cooler master S12 fans here that should do the trick actually.

As for the heatsink, there will be no overclocking, where the 212 evo would definitely be worth it over it. A few degrees difference should be fine.

As for the dvd drive I will be pulling one out another computer and ship off the LG to get it replaced. Possibly just return it to Microcenter and buy another one off Amazon.
 
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